Aurobindo Pharma to acquire Trident Life Sciences

The board of directors of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has, at its meeting on 14 August, approved a proposal to acquire 100 per cent stake in Trident Life Sciences Ltd, the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The acquisition is subject to suitable agreements being executed between the two parties for the same and fulfilling conditions customary to the closing of the transaction, Aurobindo said in its filing. 

Aurobindo did not disclose the value of the deal, but said the acquisition would help it enter the high growth injectables space and further enhance its capabilities in providing pharma manufacturing, distribution, services and solutions to its clients.

Trident Life Sciences, which specialises in the manufacture of general injectable range of formulation products, is currently setting up a facility near Hyderabad and the operations are scheduled to commence from April 2011.

"The facility shall be acquired at its book value on 30 June 2009, which is being the least of the valuations arrived at by the financial advisors,'' the company said.

TLSL, incorporated in 2004 as a clinical research organisation (CRO), later demerged into a separate company, with TLSL also entering the injectables business.

Trident has a state-of-the-art facility spread over 1,50,000 sq ft, housing clinical and bioanalytical laboratory for drug and metabolite analysis in biological matrices.